APSU guest speaker wrongly imprisoned for 27 years

Dwonna Goldstone, an APSU professor of Languages and Literature and coordinator of the African American Studies Program, was responsible for putting together this year’s program.(Photo: Tony Centonze / The Leaf-Chronicle)Buy Photo

Austin Peay State University for years has taken an active role in celebrating Black History Month. This year's celebration ends with a special guest speaker who spent almost three decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

Dwonna Goldstone, an APSU professor of Languages and Literature and coordinator of the African American Studies Program, was responsible for putting together this year’s program.

“Black history is American history, and people need to be reminded of that," Goldstone said. "What I want for those who attend one of the events is to think about the past, present and future, and not just the present only.”

She said that African-Americans have made big sacrifices on behalf of America for hundreds of years, and that sacrifice has continued.

"Our contributions to America increase with each new discovery of past contributions in science, mathematics, performing arts, medicine, business and many areas of engineering and technology.

Goldstone said she's concerned about what she called the "commercialization" of Black History Month.

"It’s not about products. It is about people," she said. “It’s about honoring black Americans for being a vital part of American history. It’s about encouraging people to live purposeful lives and doing for others. And it’s about working with people from all races, cultures, ethnicities and religious backgrounds.”

This year’s events culminate in a guest lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 23, with Ndume Olatushani.

Ndume Olatushani stands with one of his paintings, "Windows on Death Row: Art From Inside and Outside the Prison Walls."(Photo: John Rogers, AP)

Olatushani was wrongly convicted of murder and spent 27 years in prison, 19 of those on death row. He gained world recognition in June 2012 when he was released from prison.

Olatushani is now a spokesman for the Children’s Defense Fund, delivering lectures and educating the public about the problems with America’s prison system.

The prison industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with a powerful lobby behind it that wants to ensure the prisons remain full, he contends. The U.S. prison population is mostly African-American and the average age of incoming prisoners is getting younger, not older.

The lecture, open to the public, takes place from 1-3 p.m. in the Morgan University Center Ballroom and is sponsored by the Wilbur N. Daniel African American Cultural Center, the APSU African American Studies Program, and the APSU Wesleyan Foundation.